Poop trained! We did it!!

I think we've done it!
I think we have poop trained Logan... finally!!
What a process!

We've been working on this for MONTHS!  We were over it.  Time to get tough.  We started taking away toys for poop in a diaper/pull-up when he woke up.  He never had accidents in his underwear, just held it until nap/bedtime.  He picked what item he would loose if he had an accident.  We "pitched" 2 things a day, almost every day for a good week.  Then he picked his lovie blanket.  *gasp*  The tables then turned.

He spent the next 3 days saying he was going to poop in the potty to get it back. 
He tried, & tried.  I honestly though he was going to give himself hemorrhoids, he tried so hard.  We bought a new little potty thinking if we gave him more independence, privacy...  I gave him some Miralax.

And finally he did it!  Once.  Then again.   And again. 
The Easter Bunny brought him some positive reinforcement.
And for each accident free morning he got to pick a toy back out of the "trash."
I think in 10 days we have had just 2 poops in a diaper/pull-up at bedtime or nap.  Just TWO!!
He almost has all of his toys back.  And the Easter Bunny has promised him a bike.

We spent several days doing the go to the potty & try every 30 mins thing (per his request), just like the early days of potty training.  We took 2 steps backwards when everybody felt they needed to use the little potty. 

But he has successfully pooped in the big potty several times & I think we can call it success!!

AND- Hayden almost has himself nap trained.  He naps in underwear at school & was about 50:50 at naps at home the last month or so.  But lately he is almost always dry & has started to refuse a pull-up for nap.  Today Logan was very upset that he had to wear a pull-up for nap & Hayden & Olivia didn't.  And guess what, he woke up dry too.  Maybe he will get it soon too!  I told him if he woke up dry 5 naps in a row, he could nap in underwear too (plus knowing if he does have an accident he will just wake up wet & not poopy makes it not as bad).  Almost down to just 2 overnight diapers for the boys.  So close!!

Yay!!

:(

Liv apparently doesn't want me painting her bedroom furniture.  That was my task this evening after the kids went to bed. Until....

She has a crappy cough & I gave her some Albuterol from her inhaler a few times today.  But she was retracting pretty good tonight (which she hadn't been doing all day).  So we took a hot steamy shower, lubed her feet up with Vicks, covered them with socks, & broke out the nebulizer.  I think its on its first use this winter??  Somehow although the med doses are supposed to be the same in the inhaler vs the nebulizer, this seems to work better when its really needed.  Maybe its just that it forces her to sit & relax for 10 mins.  Or maybe its that relaxing "hummmmm."  We sure have gotten our $$ worth out of these things!

Hope she's better soon :)  And that the boys stay healthy :)

Sunday Funday!

A Sunday off!  Yay!  Church, Pizza Hut Buffet, naps.  And 46 degree weather outside to play in the snow!  Some hot chocolate, chili & a movie!  Despite the tremendous tantrum that Hayden threw at Pizza Hut that landed me & him in the van while the other 3 finished eating, (how embarrassing) it was a great day!  I need weekend days off more often!

 

Building snowman #2 of the year

 Logan wanted a "snow puppy" too.  We're obviously not snow artists!

 Sled rides around the yard.

Deciding that I like the amount of front yard space living on a corner lot gives you!

 Snow angels

 We had a little pile of snow from scooping the driveway, that was just big enough for them to sled down.  If we gave them a good shove they slid all the way across the front yard.  Plus we didn't have to walk back up any big hill!

 They slid down sans sled too!

 Sometimes backwards.

 Logan & Livi had their first hot luke warm chocolate to warm up.  Hayden doesn't like chocolate, so he didn't want to try any.  He rather wanted cheese :)

 What a fun day.

Weirdos!

Last week I came home from work & they all licked me.  And barked.  They were pretending to be puppies.

Tonight, they were crawling around & crying, pretending to be babies.

 

Their imaginations just run wild! 

They come up with words I have no idea where they got them from, & misuse the in funny ways.

 



They were telling a story...."There was a strange noise.  It was a Genius hiding in the snow."
They play superhero.... "Mom that Gigolo is trying to get us!"

My have they grown! 

Feb. 2013, 3 years old

Dec. 2009, 5 weeks old

A prayer request

I think it was 2 years ago around Easter, when my mother in law let us know she had been diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease.  She has been taking medications, which appeared to be helping with her symptoms.  Things seemed fairly "status quo."

Until the past few months.  Rather rapidly she has lost strength, mostly in her left limbs.  She is having pain.  Muscle contractions.  Having a difficult time walking.  Things have changed rapidly.  After an MRI & several consults with doctors in Omaha, she was left with no fixes & no answers.  Any google searching you do will only find you things more scary than Parkinson's.  And so I didn't google.  This week & next week she is consulting with mulitple specialists at Mayo.  Trying to find some answers & some relief.  One of the doctors she saw today, whose name was written on the book "A Physician's Guide to Parkinson's" said, he symptoms together simply do not describe Parkinson's. 

I have learned in talking to others who have family members dealing with degenerative type diseases, is that part of the hard part, is there are no tests.  Its not like other diseases you can scan for, or draw blood, or biopsy & say... "you have ________."  Is all done by rule out.  And that symptoms vary.  And that there are so many "sub" groups or variations, that its all so grey.

So today I ask that you pray with us.
Pray for comfort. Pray for strength.  Pray for healing.  Pray for answers.

We love you Grandma Candy!

 

Randoms

Random pictures:

 

Olivia "shaving" in the tub.

 Hayden prefers to "shave" his legs.  He isn't a big fan of the soap on his face.

 Logan "shaving" himself....

 .... and of course, shaving his car.  That boy!

 Their Valentine's Day boxes from school.

 My current obsession.  Honestly, I could drink one daily!

 Bar stool.  Thoughts.  Haven't tacked it down yet, just done with duck tape until I'm sure I like it.

 Practicing writing.  Logan has the hold down perfect!

 After MONTHS of trying to get Logan to poop on the potty, we finally had 24 hours with several successes & no accidents.  So we deferred to the Easter Bunny for a little positive reinforcement.  We have been talking about getting bikes from the Easter Bunny if he learns to poop in the potty, so this tied in really well.  Hopefully he's gonna feel the motivation this time.

CURTAINS! And a FAN!!

What more could a girl ask for on Valentine's Day, than a morning home alone.  Just me & my sewing machine.  I'm officially that person!

I'm working a lot of weekends right now & we have to pay to send the kids to daycare 2x a week regardless of how often they go (plus I didn't want them to miss their V-day party!.)  So they are at school, having their Valentine's Day Party & I'm at home!  Sewing.  And spray painting.  Gives me a glimpse into how much time I will have in a few {way to short} years when school starts.

This is what I did!  Stumbled upon this fabric at Hobby Lobby and its Liv's wall almost exactly!  I just need to paint her furniture.... I don't know why I just can't get it done...

 The butterflies from Liv's ceiling fan made me have to have....

 These curtain rods & clips!  Perfect!  The white curtain rod makes the walls look more grey & I like that!

 Kichen curtains.  These I did not sew.  They are from Lowes.

But I did cut & hem one make this valance.

 

Speaking of curtains.... blinds.  All of our blinds have a front "valance" piece.  And I'd say 1/2 of the little clips to hold them in place are gone.  So half of the time that piece is crooked on the windows.  I asked at Lowes if they sold those pieces, but she said I'd have to contact the specific blind company to get their specific piece  .... OR .... she said "velcro always works great."  VELCRO!!  Amazing.  I've gotten the "valance" piece velcroed on all the windows that are curtained.  What a great fix!

 

Random- Selling our trusty ole' stroller! Bittersweet. It was our lifeline for so long!

 

 

Oh and.... my fan project.

 

Ok Pinterest.  I spend a lot of time looking up decoration ideas & recipies on you.  But this time you have made me proud.  This fan I think might be my favorite Pinterest project to date.  I am so thrilled with my fan project!

 

I forgot to take a before picture.  These are a few pictures I found online to give you an idea where we started.  Our fan was exactly like this in color (only dirty!)

But the light kit was like this, with 5 lights. 

And now we have this!

 And all I spent was about $40!!  A new light kit for about $16.  And a shade.  And a few misc. pieces like longer pull chains & 2 pieces to adapt the kit to hold the shade.

Some ORB spray paint to all the pieces & the flip side of the white fan blades was this pale wood tone which worked out just great.

 The tutorial for this verision I found on THIS BLOG!!  She mentions a version to buy new similar to this for over $400!  I spent less than $40! 

 Now to paint....someday...

 

 

 And because the kids are more fun than my sewing & painting.... the park! (on a very attitude off day)  It was a little chilly Weds, but I needed to do something to try to end the crabby, fighting, attitude of a day.  And ended up leaving a short while after we got there, so Hayden could walk all the way home in his pooped & peed in pants.  Ugh...

 

And since the kids were at daycare, Jeff & I snuck out for an early dinner before picking them up.  Ok, ok, so the picture is taken at home, at least we got a picture!

 

Hope you had an amazing Valentine's Day!!